Hiding the sanitary napkins in the black polythene bag is something we all do. It has become as customary as wrapping a gift in all those flashy packings before presenting them. When we buy the sanitary napkins from a shop, the shopkeepers pull out a black polybag especially meant to conceal this enigmatic thing. It has become a part of our habit. If you’ve done it a plenty of times, then congratulations, you’re also a part of menstrual taboos. Hiding something as natural as menstruation is where the problem lies in our country.

We’ve been doing quite a lot to shun the menstrual taboos and period shaming. But when things as such happens, we can see that all our efforts are put back to square one. An 18-year-old Indian girl recently shared a video on Facebook that puts a question mark on why women should be ashamed of their periods? The video is titled ‘Bleeding Without Violence’. It surfaced on Facebook on Menstrual Hygiene Day India’s Facebook page narrating how women are asked to hide something as natural as periods.

Reciting the poem, Aranya Johar explains that period blood is the only blood that sheds without violence, that flows only to give life. Period is not a sign of weakness, but the strength that embodies each and every bleeding woman.

According to a survey conducted by UNESCO in 2016, over 20% girls in India drop out of school due to their periods. The rural women are still oblivious about menstrual hygiene. That calls out how important it is for us to talk candidly about periods without hushing our tone. It’s time we need to stop covering our sanitary napkins in the black polythene bag!